To Lead Schools, Christie Picks Vouchers Advocate

By DAVID M. HALBFINGER

Published: January 14, 2010

The man once described by teachers' union leaders as ''the antithesis of everything we hold sacred about public education'' was chosen to serve as state education commissioner by Governor-elect Christopher J. Christie on Wednesday.

The nomination of Bret D. Schundler to the post underscored the governor's determination to press ahead with his push for school vouchers, more charter schools and merit pay for teachers.

It was the first selection by Mr. Christie to suggest even the possibility of a confirmation battle with Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature. Thus far, the governor-elect has chosen nominees heavy on managerial experience, if lacking in drama or outsized personalities, and drawn bipartisan praise for his selections.

Mr. Schundler, 50, was a favorite of the conservative wing of the Republican Party and a leading voice for school-choice advocates during his nine years as mayor of Jersey City, but he failed in two runs for governor, in 2001 and 2005.

''We agree on the type of significant reform that needs to happen in our educational system here in New Jersey,'' Mr. Christie said in making the announcement at the State House. ''I want a strong, reasonable, bold leader who's going to help me implement those policies.''

Still, some of the ideas that made him a polarizing figure to unions and Democratic leaders have become more mainstream, with even President Obama signaling interest in merit pay and promoting the expansion of charter schools. On Wednesday, the teachers' union issued a statement that refrained from criticizing the choice.

His nomination -- made as the Rev. Reginald Jackson, director of the Black Ministers Council, looked on approvingly -- captivated New Jersey's political class on Wednesday.

''Wow! Are you serious?'' Senator Raymond J. Lesniak of Elizabeth said when told of Mr. Schundler's selection. Mr. Lesniak said he was thrilled.

Mr. Lesniak, a Democrat who has broken with the powerful New Jersey Education Association in sponsoring a bill to create a pilot school-voucher program, said Mr. Schundler's fate would depend largely on the three Democratic senators from Hudson County. The nominee's name is submitted to those senators, as a formal courtesy, but they could break with custom and block it if they choose.

One of them, Senator Nicholas J. Sacco of North Bergen, is a school administrator and a past president of an affiliate of the teachers' union. In an interview, he vowed to keep an ''open mind.''

''I do believe that the governor has a right to make his choices,'' he said, ''but I do have somewhat of a concern about this particular choice.''

What had been a slow rollout of appointments since the election is becoming a flurry this week, as Mr. Christie, who will take office on Tuesday, also unveiled his choices for commissioners of transportation and the environment and for new director of New Jersey Transit.

His pick for treasurer, to be announced Thursday, is Andrew S. Eristoff, a former New York City councilman who served as city finance commissioner under Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and state commissioner of tax and finance under Gov. George E. Pataki.

Mr. Eristoff ran for State Senate in 2002 but was defeated. In 2007, he unsuccessfully sought appointment to the vacant state comptroller's job after Alan G. Hevesi's resignation.

The governor-elect's first choice for treasurer, Robert E. Grady, a former White House budget officer under President George H. W. Bush and, earlier, an aide to Gov. Thomas H. Kean, declined to join the Christie administration, but will be named as chairman of a new council of economic advisers, according to officials told of the governor-elect's plans. Mr. Grady and his wife recently built a home in Jackson, Wyo., where they are raising two young children, and Mr. Grady, 52, has told people he hopes to run for the Senate there someday.

The new administration will also be heavily populated with former federal prosecutors.

Nine appointees so far are veterans of the United States attorney's office in Newark, which Mr. Christie led for seven years. They include the state's first lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno, whom Mr. Christie has also named secretary of state and asked to oversee economic-development efforts; the attorney general, Paula Dow, and her top three aides; the head of homeland security, Charles B. McKenna; the governor's chief counsel, Jeff Chiesa, who is an old friend and prot? of Mr. Christie's; and the incoming press secretary, Michael Drewniak, who held that role in the federal prosecutor's office.

Mr. Christie has also streamlined the governor's office, with just two chiefs -- Mr. Chiesa, the chief counsel, and Richard H. Bagger, his chief of staff -- dividing up oversight of executive responsibilities.

Mr. Bagger will manage policy and oversee the budget process, among other functions.

''A governor's office with fewer chiefs is also a stronger governor's office, because there's clearer accountability,'' he said in an interview. ''The governor can look directly to the two of us for what he needs done.''

Mr. Christie's top appointments have been somewhat short on racial and ethnic diversity; aside from Ms. Dow, who is black, and Ms. Guadagno, his cabinet so far is all white and male.

The influence of Mr. Giuliani, who was a political ally of Mr. Christie's, can be seen in the hiring of Mr. Eristoff, as well as in James Simpson's hiring at transportation and Gary M. Lanigan's at corrections. Mr. Giuliani recommended Mr. Simpson and Mr. Lanigan.

Mr. Lanigan was a top deputy to the Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner, when Mr. Kerik was the city's correction commissioner. Mr. Lanigan oversaw the agency's finances and dealt extensively with the powerful correction officers' union. Mr. Simpson, who was an Metropolitan Transportation Authority commissioner under Mr. Pataki, also headed the Federal Transit Administration under President George W. Bush.

Interestingly, he gave high praise in 2008 to Mr. Corzine's ill-fated plan to raise turnpike and parkway tolls 800 percent to pay for transportation improvements, calling it courageous and giving it the Bush administration's endorsement. But Mr. Christie, as a candidate, ridiculed the plan and has ruled out both toll and tax increases. Mr. Simpson, at a news conference on Monday, showed he had trimmed his sails: he said taxes were off the table and spoke instead about cost-cutting and public-private partnerships.